The repeal of the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate has been projected to cause insurance premiums to rise by an average of 10 percent through 2027. Those hikes would be mitigated, however, if Congress funded the ACA’s cost-sharing reduction subsidies and a $10 billion, two-year reinsurance program, according to an analysis from Avalere.

The American Hospital Association (AHA) suggested the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) pump the brakes on advocating for major changes to Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS), saying any major shifts wouldn’t have “the benefit of data or experience” considering this is the program’s first performance year.

Large nonprofit hospitals and health systems say they’re operating on slim profit margins for patient care because Medicare and Medicaid don’t pay for the total cost of care, but an analysis by Axios reporter Bob Herman found they’re reaping big profits when factoring in Wall Street investments.

Utilizing normothermic machine perfusion technology could increase the number of available donor kidneys, according to a study published in the British Journal of Surgery.

The I-PASS Nursing Handoff Bundle intervention could reduce rates of handoff error while maintaining a steady workflow, according to a study published in BMJ Quality & Safety.

CMS reported national health spending grew at a slower rate in 2016, increasing by 4.3 percent with slower growth across almost all spending categories, including private health insurance, Medicare, Medicaid and retail prescription drug spending.

Saint Anthony Hospital in Chicago has alleged the Leapfrog Group knowingly used incorrect information in awarding the facility a “C” grade in its fall 2017 safety grade report. But Leapfrog’s response to the suit said Saint Anthony had ample time to review its grade and said nothing about a suspected error in data the hospital itself had submitted until six days before grades were to be published.

Optum, the consulting and services arm of health insurance giant UnitedHealth Group, has continued a series of major acquisitions with the announcement it will buy DaVita Medical Group, a division of kidney dialysis firm DaVita, for $4.9 billion.